Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of ten novels for adults, seven books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been made into films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. Doyle's work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
Personal life and history
Doyle was born in Dublin and grew up in Kilbarrack, in a middle-class family. His mother, Ita Bolger Doyle, was a first cousin of the short story writer Maeve Brennan 4th class. Doyle graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College Dublin. He spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993. His personal notes and work books reside at the National Library of Ireland.
Born in Dublin, Walsh lives in London. He attended the secondary school in which Roddy Doyle and Paul Mercier taught. After writing for the Dublin Youth Theatre, he moved to Cork where he wrote Fishy Tales for the Graffiti Theatre Company, followed by Ginger Ale Boy for Corcadorca Theatre Company. His main breakthrough came in 1996 with the production of his play Disco Pigs in collaboration with director Pat Kiernan of Corcadorca. Since he moved to London in 2005 he has been particularly prolific, bringing his productions to nineteen stage plays, two radio plays, three screenplays and one musical for which he won a Tony Award.
Winner of the 1997 Stewart Parker and the George Devine Awards, he won the 2006 Abbey Theatre Writer in Association Award and the 2010 Obie Award for playwriting. Productions of his plays at the Edinburgh Festival have won four Edinburgh Fringe First Awards, two Critic's Awards and a Herald Archangel Award (2008). His plays, notably Disco Pigs,Bedbound, Small Things, Chatroom, New Electric Ballroom,The Walworth Farce, Penelope and Misterman, have been translated into more than 20 languages and have had productions throughout Europe and in Australia, New Zealand and the US. He has written two radio plays, with Four Big Days in the Life of Dessie Banks for RTÉ winning the PPI Award for Best Radio Drama (2001) and The Monotonous Life of Little Miss P for the BBC commended at the Berlin Prix Europa (2003).
[Explicit] This event was recorded at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 2014.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at http://www.politics-prose.com/
published: 17 Mar 2014
Roddy Doyle on Roy Keane
Roddy Doyle discusses co-writing THE SECOND HALF with Roy Keane.
Buy THE SECOND HALF at: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/roy+keane/roddy+doyle/the+second+half/10373871/
published: 17 Nov 2014
Roddy Doyle and Colm Meaney talk about the origins of Jimmy Rabbitte | RTÉ
Back to Barrytown - The Commitments airs on Sunday at 9.30pm on RTÉ One.
See more at: http://www.rte.ie/player
published: 13 May 2021
Roddy Doyle: The Waterstones Interview
Roddy Doyle's eleventh novel, Smile, is the kind of book that is difficult to talk about unless it's with someone else who has read it; a powerful novel with an ending that forces you to look at the whole book anew. We got the chance to speak to him about the real-life event behind this book, his love of dialogue and his work to help the writers of tomorrow find their own voices.
Smile is available now: http://bit.ly/2we70xy
published: 09 Sep 2017
Roddy Doyle - Family - Episode 2 - John Paul
published: 26 Aug 2013
Irish Writers in America: Roddy Doyle, Enda Walsh
This episode of “Irish Writers in America,” a new 13 part series from CUNY TV (City University of New York television station), features interviews with Roddy Doyle, the icon of Irish literature who broke onto the scene with the story of American pop music’s invasion of Dublin, The Commitments, and Enda Walsh, who won a Tony Award for his libretto of Once.
Roddy Doyle talks about how his experience of fatherhood is preserved in the shape of some of his most loved novels. He discusses how teaching kept him in touch with the world, the experience of his life and his art catching up with one another, and the lingering presence of the Irish language in the speech of his teenage son. He tells the story of self-publishing The Commitments for the price of a second-hand car and what it was like...
published: 08 Jan 2015
Writers Read: Roddy Doyle Master Class
Excerpts from Irish writer Roddy Doyle's master class presentation to writing students at Concordia University in Montreal
published: 17 May 2012
Roddy Doyle Interview
An interview with Roddy Doyle on Author magazine.
For more advice and inspiration, go to: http://www.authormagazine.org/
[Explicit] This event was recorded at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 2014.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Pol...
[Explicit] This event was recorded at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 2014.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at http://www.politics-prose.com/
[Explicit] This event was recorded at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 2014.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at http://www.politics-prose.com/
Roddy Doyle discusses co-writing THE SECOND HALF with Roy Keane.
Buy THE SECOND HALF at: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/roy+keane/roddy+doy...
Roddy Doyle discusses co-writing THE SECOND HALF with Roy Keane.
Buy THE SECOND HALF at: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/roy+keane/roddy+doyle/the+second+half/10373871/
Roddy Doyle discusses co-writing THE SECOND HALF with Roy Keane.
Buy THE SECOND HALF at: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/roy+keane/roddy+doyle/the+second+half/10373871/
Roddy Doyle's eleventh novel, Smile, is the kind of book that is difficult to talk about unless it's with someone else who has read it; a powerful novel with an...
Roddy Doyle's eleventh novel, Smile, is the kind of book that is difficult to talk about unless it's with someone else who has read it; a powerful novel with an ending that forces you to look at the whole book anew. We got the chance to speak to him about the real-life event behind this book, his love of dialogue and his work to help the writers of tomorrow find their own voices.
Smile is available now: http://bit.ly/2we70xy
Roddy Doyle's eleventh novel, Smile, is the kind of book that is difficult to talk about unless it's with someone else who has read it; a powerful novel with an ending that forces you to look at the whole book anew. We got the chance to speak to him about the real-life event behind this book, his love of dialogue and his work to help the writers of tomorrow find their own voices.
Smile is available now: http://bit.ly/2we70xy
This episode of “Irish Writers in America,” a new 13 part series from CUNY TV (City University of New York television station), features interviews with Roddy D...
This episode of “Irish Writers in America,” a new 13 part series from CUNY TV (City University of New York television station), features interviews with Roddy Doyle, the icon of Irish literature who broke onto the scene with the story of American pop music’s invasion of Dublin, The Commitments, and Enda Walsh, who won a Tony Award for his libretto of Once.
Roddy Doyle talks about how his experience of fatherhood is preserved in the shape of some of his most loved novels. He discusses how teaching kept him in touch with the world, the experience of his life and his art catching up with one another, and the lingering presence of the Irish language in the speech of his teenage son. He tells the story of self-publishing The Commitments for the price of a second-hand car and what it was like for the book to become a hit movie. Explanations of how he went about creating one of his most famous characters, Henry Smart, and how he works to infuse his novels with the real sound of Dublin streets, create an impression of a novelist working at once from imagination and from his life.
Enda Walsh describes what it was like to be a student in Roddy Doyle’s high school classroom and how he came into his sense of himself as a writer. He talks about experiences with his first theater troupe back in Cork, Ireland, the bad plays they put on, the darkness people see in standout works of his such as Misterman and The Walworth Farce, and the impetus for his break-out success, Disco Pigs, which helped to launch the career of Irish actor Cillian Murphy. Interviewed in the beautiful American Irish Historical Society, Walsh explains the feeling of arriving on the backs of literary greats like Beckett and Joyce and his initial hesitations about writing the screenplay of Steve McQueen’s award-winning film about Bobby Sands, Hunger.
The story of the teacher and the student, this episode offers perspective on how the Irish literary tradition moves down the generations.
Taped: 12-03-13
A galaxy of 23 great contemporary writers share intimate thoughts about writing, creativity, and the influences of being Irish or Irish-American in a new 13-part television series, Irish Writers in America.
Watch more Irish Writers http://www.tv.cuny.edu/show/irishwriters/
This episode of “Irish Writers in America,” a new 13 part series from CUNY TV (City University of New York television station), features interviews with Roddy Doyle, the icon of Irish literature who broke onto the scene with the story of American pop music’s invasion of Dublin, The Commitments, and Enda Walsh, who won a Tony Award for his libretto of Once.
Roddy Doyle talks about how his experience of fatherhood is preserved in the shape of some of his most loved novels. He discusses how teaching kept him in touch with the world, the experience of his life and his art catching up with one another, and the lingering presence of the Irish language in the speech of his teenage son. He tells the story of self-publishing The Commitments for the price of a second-hand car and what it was like for the book to become a hit movie. Explanations of how he went about creating one of his most famous characters, Henry Smart, and how he works to infuse his novels with the real sound of Dublin streets, create an impression of a novelist working at once from imagination and from his life.
Enda Walsh describes what it was like to be a student in Roddy Doyle’s high school classroom and how he came into his sense of himself as a writer. He talks about experiences with his first theater troupe back in Cork, Ireland, the bad plays they put on, the darkness people see in standout works of his such as Misterman and The Walworth Farce, and the impetus for his break-out success, Disco Pigs, which helped to launch the career of Irish actor Cillian Murphy. Interviewed in the beautiful American Irish Historical Society, Walsh explains the feeling of arriving on the backs of literary greats like Beckett and Joyce and his initial hesitations about writing the screenplay of Steve McQueen’s award-winning film about Bobby Sands, Hunger.
The story of the teacher and the student, this episode offers perspective on how the Irish literary tradition moves down the generations.
Taped: 12-03-13
A galaxy of 23 great contemporary writers share intimate thoughts about writing, creativity, and the influences of being Irish or Irish-American in a new 13-part television series, Irish Writers in America.
Watch more Irish Writers http://www.tv.cuny.edu/show/irishwriters/
[Explicit] This event was recorded at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 2014.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at http://www.politics-prose.com/
Roddy Doyle discusses co-writing THE SECOND HALF with Roy Keane.
Buy THE SECOND HALF at: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/roy+keane/roddy+doyle/the+second+half/10373871/
Roddy Doyle's eleventh novel, Smile, is the kind of book that is difficult to talk about unless it's with someone else who has read it; a powerful novel with an ending that forces you to look at the whole book anew. We got the chance to speak to him about the real-life event behind this book, his love of dialogue and his work to help the writers of tomorrow find their own voices.
Smile is available now: http://bit.ly/2we70xy
This episode of “Irish Writers in America,” a new 13 part series from CUNY TV (City University of New York television station), features interviews with Roddy Doyle, the icon of Irish literature who broke onto the scene with the story of American pop music’s invasion of Dublin, The Commitments, and Enda Walsh, who won a Tony Award for his libretto of Once.
Roddy Doyle talks about how his experience of fatherhood is preserved in the shape of some of his most loved novels. He discusses how teaching kept him in touch with the world, the experience of his life and his art catching up with one another, and the lingering presence of the Irish language in the speech of his teenage son. He tells the story of self-publishing The Commitments for the price of a second-hand car and what it was like for the book to become a hit movie. Explanations of how he went about creating one of his most famous characters, Henry Smart, and how he works to infuse his novels with the real sound of Dublin streets, create an impression of a novelist working at once from imagination and from his life.
Enda Walsh describes what it was like to be a student in Roddy Doyle’s high school classroom and how he came into his sense of himself as a writer. He talks about experiences with his first theater troupe back in Cork, Ireland, the bad plays they put on, the darkness people see in standout works of his such as Misterman and The Walworth Farce, and the impetus for his break-out success, Disco Pigs, which helped to launch the career of Irish actor Cillian Murphy. Interviewed in the beautiful American Irish Historical Society, Walsh explains the feeling of arriving on the backs of literary greats like Beckett and Joyce and his initial hesitations about writing the screenplay of Steve McQueen’s award-winning film about Bobby Sands, Hunger.
The story of the teacher and the student, this episode offers perspective on how the Irish literary tradition moves down the generations.
Taped: 12-03-13
A galaxy of 23 great contemporary writers share intimate thoughts about writing, creativity, and the influences of being Irish or Irish-American in a new 13-part television series, Irish Writers in America.
Watch more Irish Writers http://www.tv.cuny.edu/show/irishwriters/
Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of ten novels for adults, seven books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been made into films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. Doyle's work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
Personal life and history
Doyle was born in Dublin and grew up in Kilbarrack, in a middle-class family. His mother, Ita Bolger Doyle, was a first cousin of the short story writer Maeve Brennan 4th class. Doyle graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College Dublin. He spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993. His personal notes and work books reside at the National Library of Ireland.
I grew up, here in America Where good people worked hard And everyone got along I thought things were fine, here in America But I was wrong It seems it's all black and white, here in America Either the color of money, or the color of your skin Used to know wrong from right, here in America And we will again We can all live together With Christ as Lord And us united in Him We will all live forever When the King of Kings comes again Through the eyes of our God, I see America With no black and white None in bondage or free Because Jesus is Lord, here in America And He'll always be- Oh yeah! We can all live together